Peter felt confused as he viewed Lesser Dog apparently making a snowdog. It was just a cylinder.
"This fills you with-" Chara began, but Peter cut her off.
"NO." He replied emphatically, and decided to move on. Before him lay a large patch of ice, with Papyrus' X puzzle. Solving that quickly, he passed over the bridge through a heavily wooded area. His spider-sense seemed to tell him to check out a Southern-facing path, so that's what he did. Once he got into a canyon, he ran into Sans.
"hey kid, what's up?" Sans asked, grinning.
"Nothing much." Peter replied. But as he kept walking, he bumped into Sans again. This time in front of him. 'Wait-"
"dude, are you following me?" Sans asked.
Peter whipped his head around. There was Sans on one side of the canyon, waving. But when he turned back, Sans was waiting in front of him for an answer.
"Uh... are there two of you?" He asked.
"Nope." Sans replied. "Not here, at least."
"What's that supposed to-" But when he turned, Sans was gone from both areas. This shocked him so much that he didn't notice his spider-sense go off until he was in a fight, this time with some odd reindeer-like creature.
"Chara?" He asked.
"That's Gyftrot." She replied. "Some teens "decorated" it as a prank."
Peter could have sworn he saw someone next to him using scare quotes, but he had to keep focus, as Gyftrot sent a hail of bullets after him.
"IS THIS FUNNY TO YOU!?" It shouted, wailing slightly.
"I think it doesn't like it's ornamentation." Peter noted.
"You think?"
In that vein, Peter quickly shot a web and snagged off a stocking that appeared to be filled with chicken nuggets. Odd.
"That's a little better." Gyftrot sighed, but still sent some pellets after him.
Peter did it again, this time snagging a photo of Snowdrake and his parent. Again, odd, but Gyftrot looked better. To top it off, Peter quickly untangled some barbed wire made of pipe cleaners.
"Where did that even come from?" Peter asked.
"Beats me." Said Gyftrot. It then spared Peter, who accepted readily.
Finding nothing else in the canyon, Peter backtracked until he came upon a small doghouse surrounded by...
"It's a snow poff." Chara explained.
"That too?" Peter asked pointing.
"Yup. That's a snow poff."
Peter grinned wickedly when he noticed she sounded a bit annoyed that time. "This one too?"
"Surprisingly, yes."
"And this?"
"Snow poff..."
"This is a snow poff?"
"Is it really?"
"And this?" Peter was kidding, but as he patted it, he felt some gold.
"... Well. I guess there was something there after all." Chara sounded surprised.
"Then I suppose this is a snow poff too!" He walked to the end of the area and patted one.
"I gue- wait."
A small dog poked it's head out and barked.
"Aww, cute!" Peter said. He then gasped as the dog rose out of the poff to reveal a dog in hulking armor.
"Uh oh." Chara said.
Peter entered a fight, and then noticed that there was... background music? "What is that goofy music? And who is this?"
"You met Lesser Dog," Chara noted. "Now meet Greater Dog. It seems to think fighting is play. As for the music... I have no idea."
Greater Dog barked and sent out a dog-shaped pellet that bounded towards Peter. It's barks became pellets as well.
"What do I do?" Peter yelped, as several of the barks hit him. "It's too far away to pet!" Then it occurred to him. "Come here, boy!"
Greater Dog yelped, and bounded over himself. Peter had to duck to dodge the huge spear it wielded, but otherwise got it close enough to pet. Promptly, it curled up on Peter's lap.
"Ow." Peter said, struggling to avoid the pellets radiating from it. It fell asleep, then woke up with a huge start. On instinct, Peter rolled up a snowball and threw it. Greater Dog got so excited that it picked up all the snow in the area and brought it to him.
"...Unreal." Chara noted.
Peter thought he saw someone with her mouth agape next to him, but she vanished in an instant. Meanwhile, he was pelted by snow and pellets. After Greater Dog calmed down a bit, Peter pet it until it fell asleep. Once the fight ended, the music stopped. The dog then leapt from its armor, licked him, and jumped back into it's armor face first and walked away.
"How many dogs are in the Underground?" Peter asked.
"I don't even know." Chara replied.
"Also, are you becoming visible?"
A ghostly girl suddenly appeared for a split second staring at her hands in surprise, then vanished again. "I... I don't know that either? Maybe our mental connection is getting stronger?"
"Pleasant thought." Peter replied, walking in the direction that the dog had run off. Soon, he found himself on a narrow bridge, at the end of which stood Papyrus and... Sans. Sans winked at him.
"HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted. "THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD, THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!" Suddenly, all manner of weapons... and a single dog, lowered and rose from out of nowhere. Weirdly, Peter's spider-sense wasn't going off at all.
"Doesn't seem too deadly to me!" Peter challenged.
"Is that really necessary?" Chara asked.
"EHEH, YES, BUT WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!" Papyrus declared. "CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!"
"Aha! That's what you think!" Peter replied confidently. "With my superior reflexes, I will dodge every part of this stupendous contraption!"
"IS THAT SO!" Papyrus yelled back. "I DOUBT IT VERY MUCH, NYEHEHEHEHEHEH! NOW ARE YOU READY!? BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO! DO IT!"
Peter and the Skelebros waited. Nothing happend.
"well?" Sans asked. "what's the holdup?"
Papyrus looked conflicted. "HOLDUP!? WHAT- WHAT HOLDUP!? I'M... I'M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!"
Peter relaxed, as his spider-sense still wasn't going off. "Um... Doesn't look like it."
Sans nodded. "kid's right. it doesn't look very activated."
"WELL!" Papyrus scoffed, "THIS CHALLENGE! IT SEEMS... MAYBE... TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMAN WITH."
"Dude!" Peter shouted.
"YEAH!" Papyrus was picking up steam. "WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR! AND MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED!"
"Debatable." Chara noted. "Look at this one. It's a deathtrap that's neither deadly nor that much of a trap!"
"BUT THIS METHOD..." Papyrus looked a bit sheepish. "IT IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL! AWAY IT GOES!"
Peter and Chara looked on slightly bemused as Papyrus retracted the trap.
"PHEW!" He shouted, clearly looking relieved. Suddenly, he noticed Sans and Peter staring at him. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!? THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS! NYEH! HEH! ...heh." He walked away, looking a bit down.
"i don't know what my brother's going to do now." Sans noted unworriedly as Peter crossed the remainder of the bridge. "if i were you, i would make sure i understand blue attacks."
"Yup!" Peter nodded. "Stand perfectly still, and you'll be fine!"
Sans' eyes shifted. "yeah. that."
"Why do I feel like there's something he's hiding?" Peter asked.
"Probably because there's something fishy going on." Chara replied.
"Or bony!"
"Stop that!"
Peter found himself now in the town of Snowdin. That's what the sign said, anyways. He returned the chipper hellos of the locals, but his mind was focused on Papyrus. His spider-sense was going all over the place, and it told him to head to the town's edge. Tourism would have to wait.
Taking a detour through an igloo passageway, he came out close to the edge of town.
"Are you sure you still won't even hit the guy?" Chara asked. "I mean, it would be easier..."
"The easy way may not be the right way." Peter replied, trudging through what appeared to be a thick snowstorm. "The guy hasn't actually tried to hurt me. Did you see what happened back there? I think he just needs a friend..."
"Right." Chara replied as the storm got thicker. "A friend. For a literal skeleton who appears to be trying to capture you so you can get KILLED."
"I don't think he knows that-" Peter replied, when a shadowy figure appeared in front of him.
"... HUMAN." Papyrus' voice cut through the clouds. "ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS. THE FEELINGS OF MEETING A FELLOW PUZZLE MASTER. OF A FELLOW PASTA LOVER. THESE FEELINGS... MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW!"
Peter raised an eyebrow, but went with it. "Yeah! For sure! Maybe we can be friends or... something?"
Papyrus appeared to consider this. Suddenly, he snapped back to the present. "I'D LIKE THAT, BUT... WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS! YOU'RE A HUMAN! I! MUST! CAPTURE YOU!"
And just like that, Peter felt his soul rip from his body, and found himself face to face with Papyrus.
"Uh, Chara, what do I need to know about this guy?" Peter asked.
"...What more do you need to know? He's a skeleton who likes to say "Nyeh heh heh!""
"NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus laughed, and sent an array of bone-shaped pellets at Peter. Peter dodged them with ease, lightly as a cloud.
"Is that the best you've got?" Peter asked, sticking the landing. "Because I heard you had a special blue attack."
Papyrus grinned. "OH, I DO! BEHOLD!"
Peter stood perfectly still as dozens of blue pellets flew right past him. Suddenly, he felt a drop, and he slammed to the ground only to get struck by a normal bone pellet. Gasping, he looked at his SOUL. For some reason, it was-
"YOU'RE BLUE NOW." Papyrus stated, matter-of-factly. "THAT'S MY ATTACK! NYEH HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!"
"What." Peter stated. Papyrus chuckled and sent volley after volley of bones. Peter found that, for some reason, his SOUL was preventing him from being as acrobatic as normal. For some reason, he could only jump!
"HEH, I CAN ALMOST TASTE MY FUTURE POPULARITY!" Papyrus exclaimed as Peter tried hard to adjust to this new hurdle, as more and more bones flew towards him. "PAPYRUS, HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD! PAPYRUS, UNRIVALED SPAGHETTITOIRE!"
"Smells like bones in here." Chara noted. Peter caught a glimpse of her lazily floating on her back and watching him.
"Unhelpful." He replied.
"UNDYNE WILL BE SO PROUD OF ME!" Papyrus continued. "THE KING WILL TRIM A HEDGE IN THE SHAPE OF MY SMILE!"
"He seems excited."
"Cut it out!" Peter yelped as he hit another bone. "Wait, Char, NiceCream me!" He felt one in his hand, and he quickly ate it, feeling much better.
"MY BROTHER WILL..." Papyrus thought for a moment. "WELL, HE ACTUALLY WON'T CHANGE MUCH. I'LL HAVE LOADS OF ADMIRERS, BUT..." He suddenly dropped his shoulders a bit. "HOW WILL I KNOW IF PEOPLE SINCERELY LIKE ME?"
Peter thought for a moment. "Papyrus, I think you're pretty cool!" He meant it, too. "You remind me a lot of my friend Ned. Maybe we don't have to fight!"
"THANK YOU HUMAN!" Papyrus replied. "SOMEONE LIKE YOU IS REALLY RARE! AND... AND I DON'T THINK THEY'LL LET YOU GO..."
Papyrus looked a bit downcast.
"You can let me go, though!" Peter replied. "I promise, I want to be friends! But it'll be hard if my SOUL is torn out of my body!"
"OH, THAT WON'T HAPPEN! I DON'T THINK." Papryus looked unsure. "YOU'LL JUST GET CAPTURED... AND SENT AWAY..." He shook himself. "URGH, WHO CARES! JUST GIVE UP! GIVE UP... OR FACE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"
"The blue thing wasn't your special attack?" Peter was worried now.
Papyrus cackled. "OH NO INDEED! VERY SOON, I SHALL USE MY TRUE SPECIAL ATTACK!" He continued cackling as he sent more and more bones hurtling at Peter, who was hard pressed to avoid them. With great flourish, Papyrus declared, "BEHOLD! MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"
Peter looked, ready for anything. What he saw, however, befuddled him. There was that dog again, munching on a bone.
"WAIT, WHAT!?" Papyrus shooed at the dog. "NO! GET BACK HERE WITH..." The dog guiltily shuffled away, with the bone. "NO! STUPID DOG! UGH." Papyrus thought for a moment. "ER... I GUESS I SHALL SIMPLY USE A REALLY COOL NORMAL ATTACK!"
"Should be easy." Peter stated. Suddenly, a huge row of bones blocked the way.
"I take it back!" Peter yelped, jumping over rows and rows of bones, several hitting him, as well as that dog from earlier, a bone on a skateboard, and-
"Oh no." Chara stated, looking transparent but freaked out. "Look out!"
Peter looked up, and seeing a huge sea of bones with one huge bone at the end, yelped and shot two webs. With all his might, he slingshot over the huge bone, and landed on the other side, panting. Papyrus was panting too.
"WELL, HUMAN..." Papyrus gasped. "IT SEEMS YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME! YES! THEREFORE, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO SPARE YOU. NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO ACCEPT MY MERCY!"
Peter struggled to his feet. "I'll... I'll take it." As the fight ended, he collapsed into the snow.
Papyrus' shoulders sagged. "NYOO HOO HOO..." He attempted a laugh, but it fell flat in his.. throat? "I CAN'T EVEN STOP SOMEONE AS WEAK AS YOU..." He sniffled a bit, and sat down across from Peter. "UNDYNE'S GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED IN ME. I... I FEEL... disappointed in me. I... I guess I'll never join the Royal Guard."
His voice got quiet as tears appeared at the corner of his eyes. "And, I suppose... my friend quantity will remain stagnant. At zero. I'll be blunt human, I don't actually have many friends."
Peter sat back a bit. He had never heard the skeleton sound like this. "Hey man..." He scooted over to Papyrus. "You actually did a really good job. You're a tough guy to beat, you know. I've fought hundreds of bad guys, and you gave me a real workout. But I can see now that you're a kind-hearted guy, too. So... How about we increase that friend quantity by one?"
Papyrus perked up. "YOU MEAN..."
Peter nodded and smiled. "Oh Great Papyrus," he smirked, "Would you be interested in being friends with the Amazing Spider-man?"
Papyrus jolted upright. "YOU MEAN IT!? YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS... WITH ME? WELL THEN, I GUESS..." He held out his hand, and Peter shook it. "I GUESS I CAN MAKE AN ALLOWANCE FOR YOU! WOW! I HAVE FRIENDS!"
"A friend." Chara corrected. Peter tried to elbow her, but nothing happened.
"WOW, WHO KNEW THAT ALL I NEEDED TO MAKE THEM..." Papyrus pondered this. "WAS TO GIVE PEOPLE AWFUL PUZZLES AND THEN FIGHT THEM?"
"Maybe you just need to show people who you are." Peter suggested. "Then again, those puzzles were fun."
"WEREN'T THEY!" Papyrus grinned. "YOU TAUGHT ME A LOT, HUMAN. I HEREBY GRANT YOU PERMISSION TO PASS THROUGH! AND I'LL GIVE YOU DIRECTIONS TO THE SURFACE!"
"Should I write this down."
"YES." Papyrus concentrated hard. "CONTINUE FORWARD UNTIL YOU REACH THE END OF THE CAVERN! THEN WHEN YOU REACH THE CAPITAL, CROSS THE BARRIER! IT'S THE MAGICAL SEAL TRAPPING US ALL UNDERGROUND. ANYTHING CAN ENTER THROUGH IT, BUT NOTHING CAN EXIT."
"How will I get through?" Peter asked, scrunching his face up.
"SIMPLE! YOU NEED TO BE SOMEONE WITH A POWERFUL SOUL!" Papyrus replied cheerfully. "AND YOU DEFINITELY HAVE THAT! THAT'S WHY THE KING WANTS TO ACQUIRE A HUMAN. HE WANTS TO OPEN THE BARRIER WITH SOUL POWER. THEN US MONSTERS CAN RETURN TO THE SURFACE!"
Peter suddenly thought of something worrisome. "The King... wants a human SOUL?"
Papyrus nodded. "OH, THAT REMINDS ME. TO REACH THE EXIT, YOU WILL HAVE TO PASS THROUGH THE KING'S CASTLE. THE KING OF ALL MONSTERS. HE IS... A BIG FUZZY PUSHOVER!"
Peter sighed in relief.
"Pfft, I could have told you that." Chara replied. "Wonder why mom was worried."
Peter wanted to question her on this, but Papyrus was still talking.
"EVERYBODY LOVES THE GUY! I AM CERTAIN IF YOU JUST SAY... "EXCUSE ME, MR. DERRMURR... CAN I PLEASE GO HOME?" HE'LL GUIDE YOU RIGHT TO THE BARRIER HIMSELF!"
"Dreemurr?" The name sounded familiar to Peter, but he couldn't quite place it.
Papyrus nodded. "ANYWAY! THAT'S ENOUGH TALKING! I'LL BE AT HOME BEING A COOL FRIEND! FEEL FREE TO COME BY AND HANG OUT! NYEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHH!"
Continuing to laugh, Papyrus leapt for joy over Peter's head, and back towards Snowdin.
"Hey Char?" Peter asked.
"What?" Chara looked worried for a moment. "What is it?"
Peter thought for a moment. He had wanted to ask a question, but Papryus' antics had distracted him. "I don't know. Remind me later."